How many like the version of Big Swifty on this album, for me this is a great band and a great instrumental with the exception of the brakes where Frank inserts humor asking for a jazz noise, this takes this song from a everyday listen to a once in a while due to the satire, imho.

_________________A government Bureau is the closest thing to eternal life on earth that you will ever see

Big Swifty, well it does sound like a more overt Vegas lounge kind of a parody rendition, perhaps artistically less accomplished than the "Bitches Brew" esque jamming on the original version, but perhaps with added entertainment value?

_________________Lies are like quicksand, soft and comfortable, but they will swallow us. Truth is like bedrock, hard and uncomfortable, but we can always stand on it

Yea i agree, but do you prefer it over a non vocal version, I guess it pisses me off in that the band playing it the 88 band i think, did such a great job imo, I would rather just hear the musicians play, and that in it's self is what the spot is all about, i think? Kind of goofing on some snob type jazz musicians.

_________________A government Bureau is the closest thing to eternal life on earth that you will ever see

More or less the beginnings of how this song would be essentially played during the Roxy period post-JLP, but with the added bonus of a spacey clarinet solo from Underwood, where a Duke keyboard solo would later feature.

_________________Lies are like quicksand, soft and comfortable, but they will swallow us. Truth is like bedrock, hard and uncomfortable, but we can always stand on it

When I saw Mike Keneally's band in 1998 they played "Inca Roads" and Marc Ziegenhagen did a keyboard solo over the vamp George Duke soloed on in this song, rather than the usual fast 7/8 Ab-G "Inca Roads" keyboard solo vamp. An interesting inside reference for Zappaphiles.

As for the MAJNH track, I like it, but I find Yuppies/Fire and King Kong/Star Wars more impressive.

it's a swanky loungey yo cats version - where's thana harris - the band plays so loose one minute & super-tight the next, almost a different tune than the original ... the bionic insertionism is pure zappa, and the band really rocks the opening/closing theme; thunes stands out, amazing performance

the reggae'd king kong never worked for me, sounds dumbed down ... this album's kk version deviates in so many directions for most of the track, it's gotta be my least fav of all kk's

That was the first version i ever heard of this song. I fell in love immediatley and it is still my favourite version. IMHO it matches best of all the YCDTOSA condition, as FZ wrote in the booklets: Is this the best recorded version of this song?

BRAVO SIERRA wrote:

I quite enjoy the original, on Waka JaWaka

After i learned to know the roxy version of this song, i desparetely wanted to know the original version from waka jawaka. When i finally bought this album, i was pretty disappointed about this song. It really starts off very spectacular but then becomes more and more boring. The Sal Marques solo is still so la la, but after that it is only wall paper music for me (the only exception is the part near the end that also appears as end of the Helsinki version). I also had my problems with the jazz noise version in the beginning, but today i love it in its entirety. I like the 88 Barcelona version. The original version still bores me the most parts of it.

I totally disagree, the original version with Dunbars work is brilliant and Duke uses the ring mod with the rhodes is great ,he has a sound similar to Zawinal ,roxy version is good also. i almost forgot you won't find a trumpet player to equal what Sal did, or find fault.

_________________A government Bureau is the closest thing to eternal life on earth that you will ever see

The Waka/Jawaka Big Swifty is sublime. The only reason I don't listen to it much any more is because I've listened to it far too many times. It has been absorbed into my being. I can hear it playing away in my head any time I want - even when I don't want it, there it is. I enjoy playing the multi-thematic opening riff on my guitar, although I haven't perfected the penultimate theme, that little off tonality bit just before the brass takes you into the start of the "free form" section.

This has some of my favourite FZ guitar playing on it. I like his bluesier polytonic and modal guitar type solos, but this stuff has something extra in it. And, of course, I like just as much what the rest of the band is doing. This probably makes me some kind of heretic, but Miles Davis is just boring after this. I'm not saying the guy hasn't got chops but there is just something missing for me that can only be found in albums like Waka/Jawaka and it's not just about FZ and his guitar playing - it's his whole compositional philosophy in pieces like this and what he brought out in his players that I just haven't found anywhere else.

_________________The way I see it Barry, this should be a very dynamite show.

Big Swifty on Waka/Jawaka is special - you don't often hear Zappa dipping into the pool of collective improvisation like that. His attitude is genuinely jazzy in its openness to the other players. And still he has that edgy sense of purpose, which sets him apart from most jazz players. Sublime, indeed.

This probably makes me some kind of heretic, but Miles Davis is just boring after this.

I think the Agartha/Pangaea era with guitarist Pete Cosey holds up from the electric era. I've always thought Bitches Brew was boring. I love some of those musicians but that shit is meandering.

I'm quite partial to In a Silent Way myself. At least that one is arguably one of the first ambient-jazz albums. Perhaps not as big of a revolution as Bitches, but no less inventive and still holds up after four (and a half, my god time flies so quick!) decades. It's not often that you get to hear Tony Williams and John McLaughlin play so...understated!

_________________Lies are like quicksand, soft and comfortable, but they will swallow us. Truth is like bedrock, hard and uncomfortable, but we can always stand on it

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